Confession of a Clotiholic
by NadejdaHope
Summary: It's a universal truth that Cloud Strife is dense. So what will happen when heroes of other realms of Final Fantasy came into the picture to give him the push or a kick on his butt? A collection of one-shots/crossover and loads of Cloti goodness. Appearance of different characters and pairings for every chapter.
1. Chapter 1

A/N – I had this really crazy thought that since Cloud can be so dense, he might need a push from other heroes from the FF universe. So that what made me came up with this story. Various characters and couple will make an appearance in different chapter.

This will be like a collection of one-shots or dumpbox (since everyone of us should have one) and they're not linked directly from one chapter to another. I just made up the whole thing and if they're not as the same as the game-verse it's probably because I change it to suit the plotline.

Should I write a disclaimer note here as well? Everyone knows who this awesome franchise belongs to. Definitely not me or I'll be busy working on the FFVII Remake.

Not betaed.

 **Chapter 1: A Hopeful Encounter**

It was raining heavily that night, not the kind of rain that healed the world of Geostigma, it was a thunderous one. Lightning crossed the dark sky relentlessly, brightening it for a few second to be consumed by darkness again and again.

Tifa looked up from where she was taking shelter from the sudden downpour, groceries in hand. The bar was just up ahead but she was soaked to the bone.

She wiped off the traces of rain from her face and looked around the area. It was deserted, not a single soul outside, making her feel like she was the only one in the city of Edge.

Reaching for her phone, Tifa was about to make a call to the bar to inform Denzel and Marlene that she was going to be a little late when her phone beeped, an incoming message alert.

'I got held up outside of the city. Raining like crazy,' a simple message from Cloud that made her smile to herself.

He was opening up once again and the short messages he sent from time to time were indicator that he was letting her in to his life.

'Take care and be careful, Cloud. We'll wait for you,' she replied before putting her phone into her back pocket securely.

She knew the rain was going to be a long one and decided to just go through it to make it back to the bar.

Blowing out her breath as another strike of lightning flashed the night sky, she readied herself to run.

Then, she heard a groan.

Tifa scanned the area once again, she was sure she was alone earlier. No one in the right state of their mind would be outside in this kind of weather.

"Help…me," a voice in pain reached her ears again.

One shot of lightning with a clap of thunder broke and that was when she saw a figure lying face down on the ground, obviously writhing in pain.

"Hey, are you alright?" Without a second thought, Tifa made her way to the alley and stopped beside the figure.

It was covered in a grey cloak, but she could see blood seeping out from it, staining the cloak, forming a pool around her feet.

"Oh God, you're injured. We need to get out from this weather," Tifa dropped her groceries and helped the figure up.

It groaned again, a gloved hand held its' stomach, trying to stop the bleeding but to no avail.

The heavy rain didn't make it easy for Tifa to support the weight of the stranger.

"My place is just up ahead. Can you walk slowly?"

Tifa asked and the figure just nodded.

* * *

They walked while Tifa tried her best to encourage the stranger to put one foot in front of the other, shouting over the sound of the thunder and when they reached the front of 7th Heaven, the door popped opened.

"Tifa, you're back!" Denzel's worried face greeted her and his eyes widened at the sight before him.

Before Tifa could open her mouth, Denzel turned his head a little and opened the door wide to let them in,

"Marlene, get some towels and warm water."

They were drenched and upon entering the bar, the figure lost its footing and stumbled, bringing down Tifa together to the floor.

"Hey, get a hold of yourself." Tifa panicked as she felt the weight if the stranger squashing her.

She could hear the heavy breathing and the warmth of the blood but Denzel's voice stopped everything they were doing.

"Tifa, he has silver hair," it was a mere whisper but Tifa's heart stopped beating.

"Green eyes," Marlene dropped the towel she was holding and Tifa lifted the stranger's head to get a real look at the stranger.

Her eyes widened and all of a sudden, everything turned cold. Silver hair and green eyes had always mean danger to them and tonight, she brought one into their house.

"Help…" he groaned again and after that he lost all support he had on himself and Tifa felt his weight totally on her.

"Do you think we're doing a right thing?" Marlene whispered to Denzel as they watched Tifa attended the wound of the stranger, who was lying on Cloud's bed.

His cloak and wet attired were removed with the help of the children. His face was still scrunched in pain.

"I dunno," Denzel passed a bandage to Tifa, who seemed intent on covering the huge gash on his abdomen but still had a dubious look on her face.

"I mean, he's not Sephiroth or Kadaj, but…" Marlene stopped halfway.

Tifa finished dressing his wound and lifted her head.

"Come on, we'll ask the question later once he wake up. He had it bad so I think he won't be a danger for now," Tifa picked up the wet lump of clothes and made her way to the door.

Marlene looked satisfied with Tifa's reasoning but Denzel looked at the figure suspiciously.

When Cloud wasn't in the house, he was responsible to take care of them and with this stranger sleeping on his hero's bed, wearing his hero's clothes, Denzel was far from happy.

Plus, the weather outside was still torrential, it made his really uneasy.

"I'll stand by here, in case he wakes up and need anything," Denzel decided and took a place next to the bed.

Tifa understood what he was trying to do and just nodded. She took a pre-caution by slipping in some sleeping potion into the medication, so the man won't be awake anytime soon.

"Just give me a shout if anything happens," Tifa said before leaving the room with Marlene.

* * *

Cloud returned to the bar quite late and was greeted with a sight of Tifa cleaning the floor near the entrance.

His enhanced senses picked up the smell of blood and he stiffened, "What happened?"

Tifa finished the last round of mopping the floor and sighed, "Someone was injured and I brought him back here."

Cloud immediately relaxed and just nodded. "He's in your office. Denzel's looking out for him."

Together, they made their way into Cloud's office.

As soon as they arrived at the door, they saw Denzel had fallen asleep next to the man he was being so suspicious of and Tifa shook her head with a small smile on her face.

"He wanted to stay here in case of anything."

Cloud's feature turned soft. "He's the man of the house when I'm not in."

Tifa entered the room and touched Denzel's hair. She planted a kiss on top of his hair before she let Cloud carried Denzel outside to set him on his own bed.

Tifa looked down on the half-naked man who was still sleeping but now with a peaceful look on his face.

He looked like he was around 25 years old and judging from his attire that he was wearing earlier; it looked like he was some kind of a researcher. Nothing aside from his silver hair and green eyes that said he was a threat.

Tifa turned to walk away but was stopped and when she looked down, his hand grabbed hers, "Thank you…" he said drowsily, through his half opened eyes, she could see his green irises but no traces of Mako.

"It's okay, just sleep," she said and as his grip on her loosened, Tifa corrected the blanket that was covering him.

'Let's hope you're not a trouble.' Tifa prayed silently and exited the room.

* * *

The next morning Tifa jolted up in her bed and looked around the room while she could pick up the sound of someone rummaging through her kitchen.

She placed her feet softly on the floor and made her way to the bar, trying not make any sound.

Cloud was already wide awake as he was standing at the bottom of the staircase; his arms were crossed on his chest.

"What's going on?" Tifa placed a hand on his shoulder and she felt him relaxed under her touch.

"Oh, hi! Good morning. Sorry, I took the liberty to make breakfast," a voice replied and behind her counter, stood the silver haired man.

"I hope you don't mind I used your kitchen, it's beautiful," he added and Tifa made her way towards him.

"No problem, but are you sure you should be up?" Tifa asked him, noticing how close Cloud was standing behind her as if he was ready to pounce if anything should happen.

"Yeah, it's just a scratch but thanks to you I'm back on my feet now," he smiled, making his face bright.

"Who are you again?" Cloud interrupted, obviously he didn't trust the stranger yet.

"Oh, where are my manners," he placed the plates he was holding on the counter as he made his way out of the counter.

"Hope. I'm Hope Estheim," he held out his hand to Cloud, who ignored the gesture.

Tifa quickly butted in, not wanting to offend their guest and took his hand instead. "I'm Tifa and this is Cloud."

"Tifa and Cloud," Hope acknowledged.

"So, if we're done with the introduction, I think you should make a move, since you're alright now," Cloud said in a firm voice.

A flash of hurt crossed Hope's face but it was immediately replaced with a practiced smile.

"Yeah, about that. I was kind of wondering if you have any job vacancy since I'm actually new around here and I don't have anywhere to go," Hope immediately turned to Tifa.

"Nope, we're not hiring," Cloud cut him off but Tifa held his arm, as a sign for him to hold himself down.

Hope looked a little beaten down but nodded with a sad smile. "I understand."

"Give us a minute, Hope. Cloud?" Tifa eyed the blond as they made their way into the kitchen to discuss.

As soon as the door closed, Cloud immediately turned to Tifa, "You're not seriously considering hiring him, right?"

Tifa shrugged as she looked around the kitchen. "I could always use an extra hand in the bar."

Cloud's frown turned deeper.

"We don't know who he really is and it's dangerous."

Tifa tapped a finger on her lips as she was deep in thought.

"Okay, that's true but let's give him benefit of the doubt, I mean I was like that when I first arrived in Midgar," Tifa explained.

Cloud's eyes softened as he recalled her incident. Barely surviving the Nibelheim horror, Tifa was brought to Midgar on the verge of death by her master, Zangan.

"I understand how it feels like not having anywhere to go to but I was lucky enough to meet Barrett," she continued as she saw Cloud was in deep thoughts.

"I was really grateful that I met the gang when I was lost and didn't know where to go or what to do," Tifa added as she stopped right in front of Cloud.

Cloud looked up and shot her an annoyed look and Tifa smiled, knowing that Cloud had finally give in to her.

"Fine, but I'll do the background check and if I find even one thing he lies to us, he's out of the door," Cloud finally said.

"Fair enough," Tifa agreed.

Seeing the look of fear on the blonde's face Tifa took one of his hands in hers, "He's not the Remnants or Sephiroth, Cloud. Just the hair and eyes only."

Cloud stiffened a little, taken aback by Tifa's observation of why he was reluctant to help Hope.

Looking at the assurance on her face, Cloud squeezed her hand, "I don't want any of you to get hurt again."

Tifa gave him another smile and placed her other hand on his cheek. "We won't."

Cloud let out a sigh as he closed his eyes and leaned into her palm. Tifa stroke his cheek with her thumb softly.

"But I need to interrogate that man first," his blue eyes were filled with distrust but Tifa gave him a slight nod, "As you wish, sir."

* * *

Turned out Hope was a very reliable and honest man. He was a quick learner and easily adapt to the work around the bar. He even let Marlene bosses her around calling herself his senior.

Tifa was grateful for the extra hand but other than talking about the bar, Hope never offered any other information about him. Tifa decided not to push it.

Cloud on the other hand was very sceptical at first but after Tifa caught Hope helping him out with Fenrir one day, Tifa knew that Hope had won even Cloud over. Though she could still hear the two of them bickering, at least Cloud was talking to him.

Usually after helping Tifa out at the bar, Hope would spend the time with Cloud and Denzel tuning up Fenrir while giving some input on how to upgrade certain features of Fenrir.

"Hey, I've seen you working around Fenrir like you're some sort of an engineer. What exactly do you do?" Tifa asked Hope casually as she was mixing some drink for a customer.

Hope turned his head from cleaning some glasses and gave out a small smile.

"I used to work at an Academy, working on lots of machine, you know technical stuff," Hope replied as he continued to busy himself arranging the dishes.

"I'm pretty good at it," he passed a glass to Tifa who poured a cocktail mixture in it before passing it to her customer.

"And what are you doing here?" Tifa couldn't help but to be direct with him. Almost 2 weeks had passed and there was no sign of Hope going to share any info about him.

Hope turned to face Tifa fully, leaning on the bar, "I guess I owe you that much for not kicking my butt out after saving me."

Tifa crossed her arms and waited for him to start talking.

"I was a director at the Academy and I was working on a machine that allows time to be distorted," Hope let out a heavy breath. "It was to save Cocoon."

"Cocoon?" Tifa repeated.

"That was what we called our home, our world." Hope explained again. "Anyway, somehow along the way a lot of things happened and we lost a valuable friend who was trying to fix the time distortion to put things back in order."

So Cloud was right when he suspected that Hope wasn't someone from around here. And he must be a genius for being able to become a director at such young age.

Tifa let him continued though she was really curious who did he mean when he said "we."

"The plan backfired and after almost contributing to Cocoon destruction, I..." he stopped halfway. Running his hands through his silver hair and making his usual neat appearance slightly dishevelled, Hope suddenly looked lost.

"I became a vessel for Bhunivelze, the God of Light to act a conduit for his voice which in turn made me somewhat his puppet," Hope spat at the last word.

Tifa passed a glass of Corel wine to him which he downed in a gulp. "Liquid courage," Tifa said with a small smile.

It seemed to encourage Hope further.

"My last mission before I arrived here was to collect the last human soul left back in my world. The saviour's," Hope continued to look up to Tifa.

"And the saviour's final mission was to collect mine." He concluded and poured himself another glass of the wine.

Tifa gasped, "Isn't the saviour supposed to be on your side?"

Hope laughed dryly.

"That's the tricky part. That bastard Bhunivelze turned us against each other after we managed to bring him down and doomed the world to darkness before his death and the only way to save it is for either of us to die, at each other's hands."

Hope drank another glass of the wine and took a seat at the bar.

Seeing there was no other customer waiting to be served Tifa took a spot next to him.

"So what happened next?" Tifa placed a hand on his arm, trying to calm him.

"We were at each other's neck and she was close to take my soul when a portal suddenly opened and I ended up in that alley where you found me," Hope looked at the glass as his memory replayed the last battle with the saviour.

"He must be pretty strong to be able to hurt you like that," Tifa commented, remembering the condition Hope was in when she found him. The gash on his abdomen was pretty nasty.

There was a look of longing in his eyes as he let out a chuckle, "Yep, she's pretty strong... headed."

Tifa raised her brows in disbelief. A woman did that to Hope?

There was a moment of silent before he let out a murmur, "Cloud reminded me of her so much."

Tifa looked at Hope's feature. All of a sudden he looked like he aged ten years and he was tired of all of the fighting.

"That's why Cloud irritates me sometimes, but don't tell him that," Hope made the situation lighter with a wink.

Tifa let out a small smile with a nod.

"Tifa?" Cloud's voice interrupted and both of them turned at the same time.

"Hi, you're back. Let me help you with that," Tifa quickly made her way to Cloud, helping him with the supplies he got from his delivery.

Looking at Cloud's blank face, Hope finished the remaining of his wine and let out harsh breath before making his way to the kitchen.

* * *

"They are bickering again in the garage," Denzel announced as he entered the bar. "I'm beat," he added before turning to Marlene.

"Wait for me, I'm coming with you." Marlene hopped from her stool and the two children made their way to their bedroom, preparing for bed.

Tifa smiled to herself at her children. It had been a long day for them and the bar was already closed.

After making sure everything was cleaned, Tifa looked around in satisfaction and stretched herself.

As she was about to turn around to leave the bar, she bumped into a body. "Oomph."

She looked up and saw a rather pissed off looking Hope. He held her steadily as he placed both of his hands on her shoulders.

"You okay?" She asked in concern.

His light blue-green eyes looked determined and for the longest time, Tifa felt like she was caught in his eyes.

"Hope?" She called his name again but he didn't answer her, instead the grip on her shoulders turned tighter.

It took a few second before Tifa could register what was happening. One moment she was looking into Hope's eyes and the next she felt his lips on hers, his eyes were half closed.

It lasted for just a moment but by the time he pulled back, there was another person in the room. Hope ignored the blonde and looked at the woman standing in front of him who was still stunned and confused. A small smile escaped him.

"Good night, Tifa." Hope said just loud enough for the blonde to catch his words and landed another quick peck on Tifa's lips.

He released her and Tifa stood still with her hand on her lips. What the heck just happened?

Cloud made his way to her yet his gaze was blazing, watching the other man retreated into his room. Technically, that was _his_ office, that brat was just sleeping in it.

"Tifa? Are you okay?" Cloud's voice was gentle, betraying the emotion in his eyes.

Tifa looked around aimlessly and let out the breath she didn't notice she was holding, "I need to sit down."

What the heck just happened?

* * *

The day following the incident was nothing but awkward.

As usual breakfast was made by Hope and by the time Tifa came down, the children were already surrounding him asking for extra serving of his pancakes while Cloud was at the end of the table, poking at his food.

"Morning Tifa," Hope called as he saw her entering the kitchen.

"Good morning," Tifa replied, still feeling awkward from last night. "Come on, let's be seated," Tifa announced to the children and they made their way to the table.

Tifa purposely took a seat in between Denzel and Marlene, away from the two men. One was smiling and talking like nothing unusual happened last night and the other kept on shooting silent daggers to her.

The time passed with the children chattering with Hope and Tifa interrupted once in a while when they asked her questions.

During lunch time, things got even worse. Usually Cloud would already leave for delivery but surprisingly that day, he stayed in the bar, murmuring something about taking the day off.

The children were ecstatic, having the time to spend with their favourite hero but for Tifa, it felt as if she was walking on thin ice.

Wait... Why should she be feeling this way in the first place? Tifa threw the towel she was holding into the sink and gathered up her courage to confront the source of the awkwardness.

"Hope, can I talk to you for a second?" Tifa called the man, who was occupied arranging some bottles on the bar.

Hope turned with a smile on his face and made his way into the kitchen.

Cloud followed his movement with icy glares. "Brat."

"Yeah, what's up?" Hope stood right in front of her.

Tifa looked up to the man in front of her and gulped back. True, Hope was a very good looking guy, standing tall and lean with eyes that could melt anyone if they looked long enough into them and with the friendly attitude, any girl would fall for him.

Tifa snapped herself from the reverie and corrected her voice.

"About last night," Tifa shuffled her feet uncomfortably.

Hope just remained quiet, but the smile on his face never faded.

"Um…" Tifa suddenly lost the words she was going to say.

"Well, are you two dating?" Hope tilted his head towards the door, indicating Cloud.

Tifa shook her head, "Not really."

"Are you in any some sort of relationship with anyone?" He asked again.

Tifa shook her head again.

"Then I don't think the kiss was such a big issue," Hope said in a casual manner but it made Tifa's face turned red.

After a few moment of silence Tifa questioned him, "Why?"

Hope just shrugged, "As a thank you for saving my life." His eyes wandered around the kitchen before settling on her again. "And I like you Tifa."

With that, he started walking towards the door. "Think of it as a favour."

"Plus, a cowardly man like him pisses me off. Dilly dallying when the opportunity is right in front of his eyes. If he's not gonna take it, he can watch someone else snatch it," He added before exiting, leaving Tifa in deeper confusion.

"For a director, you are such an idiot." Tifa blew out her breath.

* * *

The weather turned from sunny to a thunderstorm almost immediately as the sun began to set in the sky.

"Come on, we'll find a shelter first," Cloud instructed and made his way towards an empty shop lot nearby the park.

All of them took the evening off to bring the children to the newly build park in the outskirts of Edge. Things were looking good for the city and a lot of new places were emerging and people were finally moving on with their lives.

Marlene and Denzel followed Cloud closely behind and managed to barely avoid the first raindrop that fell from the sky.

"Hurry up Tifa! Hope!" Marlene called from under the shelter as they looked at the two figures running towards them.

Hope was laughing like a kid as he pulled Tifa's hand to make her catch up with him and Cloud ignored the annoyed feeling that was bubbling up in his chest.

It was only a blink of an eye, an out of the world brightness crossed the sky as a lightning illuminated sky that made Hope stopped in his tracks, looking serious all of a sudden.

He turned around in flash and ducked, as if he was avoiding an attack and brought Tifa down with him.

"So we meet again, Hope." The voice was cold but it definitely belonged to a woman.

Hope jumped back to put a safe distance between Tifa and the woman. He wasn't going to drag another innocent life into their century long battle.

A woman with a stoic face and holding a gunblade standing in front of them as she eyed the two of the cautiously. She looked really young with strawberry coloured hair and pale skin.

"The saviour," Tifa gasped and readied herself with a defensive posture.

There wasn't time to think when the woman suddenly charged once again aiming for Hope. Tifa stepped in front of Hope unexpectedly and landed a hard kick on the woman but she blocked with her gunblade before dashing towards them again.

This time her attacks were blocked by a massive sword and a black figure stood in between them protectively.

"Enough." Cloud growled as he used the weight of his sword to push the woman back.

She landed swiftly on her feet and glared at the three people standing in front of them.

"If you know what's good for you then stay away from this battle. It's not yours to fight," the woman demanded as she raised her blade.

"Hope is with us. Anyone who is his enemy is an enemy to us," Tifa interjected in a firm manner. She glanced at the children and saw they were still hiding under the shelter. There was a look of hurt that flashed on the woman's face but it was quickly replaced by her stoic expression.

The raindrops were all they could hear for the next few seconds before the saviour attacked them again.

Tifa blocked the assault and took the opportunity to land a punch on the woman's gut and began to return the favour in a combo of kicks and punches.

The woman stumbled back but she closed her eyes and brought her hand to her chest, muttering some chant under her breath.

"Look out!" Cloud managed to block the fire spell that was directed at Tifa before he realized it was a plan to distract them as she dashed towards Hope immediately after casting.

Hope seemed to be in daze as the woman slammed him to the ground and a loud thud could be heard and a sharp intake of breath escaped from his lips.

She placed her gunblade at his throat while her other free hand grabbed his collar roughly.

Hope just looked at the saviour in silence, his hands by his side, not even a single struggle to free himself.

Tifa and Cloud stood back and looked at them; there was hesitation from the saviour. She could finish Hope right then but she was hesitating. Even her hand that was holding her blade was shaking.

What exactly was happening?

Hope slowly raised one of his hands to the saviour's face and stopped when he made contact with her cheek. He brushed it tenderly.

"Light."

Instantly, the saviour dropped her gunblade and collapsed fully on Hope, losing her consciousness.

Hope gathered the woman in his arms and got on his feet with a really serious look on his face as Cloud and Tifa approached him.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do," Cloud simply said as he picked up the gunblade and made his way to the children.

"Let's head back to the bar first," Tifa added and followed Cloud's lead. After all, they were all soaking wet from the rain.

Hope just nodded and looked at the woman in his arms guiltily.

* * *

"Wait, let me get this straight. You two had a history from hundreds of years ago and now both of you are trying to kill each other?" Cloud summarized after hearing the explanation from Hope.

Hope looked away bashfully, "Not exactly a history. But I got a thing for her."

Tifa raised one of her brows unexpectedly. The ever so confident Hope Estheim was blushing while talking about the saviour.

"So it's a one sided love then?" Cloud took the chance to rub on the brat's face and Hope shot him a look.

"Cloud," Tifa reminded Cloud that they were having a bigger issue on hand. Cloud leaned back into the chair but with a smug look on his face.

"So what's going to happen after this?" Tifa asked as she glanced at the woman who was still unconscious in Cloud's office. She already took the initiative to remove every weapon that the woman carried and changed her into a basic shirt and pants to ensure she wasn't carrying anything underneath her clothes as well.

It was just a precaution step in case the woman went berserk when she woke up later.

"I dunno. I had already given up trying to take her soul a long time ago but every time she tried to take mine, there must be something that stopped her. Just like what happened earlier."

Hope ran his hands through his hair as he was lost in thoughts.

"I think that must be the after effects from travelling from your world to ours. Just like you experienced," Tifa wondered around the room, trying to figure out a solution for the matter.

Cloud's phone rang and he picked it up once he saw the ID.

"Yes Vincent?"

Tifa looked at Cloud who was seemed so intent to listening to the caller and just nodded once in a while.

Hope looked at loss as he gave out a sigh.

"I got it," Cloud ended the conversation and looked up at Hope.

"Turn out your arrival has been causing some disruption. Vincent just reported a spike of monster activity outside Midgar," Cloud explained. "The monsters aren't native to the area."

"I have no idea how to get back to my own world. And with Light's arrival, it'll make thing much more complicated." Hope sighed again.

Tifa made her way to Hope and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't give up yet. There must be a reason why your name is Hope," she gave him an encouraging smile and squeezed his shoulder.

Hope gave a reluctant nod.

"I'm sorry to ask you this but is it possible if you could give me some time alone with Light? I don't want to drag you into another battle if she decided to have my head once she wakes up," Hope pursed his lips together, looking determined.

Tifa turned to Cloud and they had a mental conversation before he nodded in agreement.

"Just try not to make too much mess in my office."

* * *

"Aren't we supposed to be leaving the two of them alone?" Cloud scratched the back if his head as he followed Tifa from the back into his office.

Hope was still at the bar, mentally preparing himself before confronting Lightning.

"Shh! We'll just double check if there's anything that can be used as a weapon in your office," Tifa whispered as she slipped into the room and motioned for Cloud to do the same.

The blonde closed the door behind him with a soft click, not wanting to alert Hope. They were supposed to leave the bar half an hour ago.

Cloud looked at the woman on the bed, she didn't look dangerous but he had seen her moves and they were lethal. He turned to see Tifa was rummaging through his desk and she seemed satisfied when she couldn't find anything that could be used as a weapon.

Tifa checked the small closet in his office and was about to close the door when they heard the room door opened.

Under normal circumstances, Cloud would applaud Tifa for her amazing reflexes but when he found himself stuck in the closet with Tifa, his body became stiff and tense at the close proximity.

"Crap, he's here too soon," Tifa was still oblivious of the position she was in.

"Tifa," Cloud whispered and that seemed to make Tifa became aware of her surroundings.

Their bodies were pressed together and he could feel her breath on his chest. Even their feet were sandwiched in between each other's legs.

"Oh," Tifa pulled back her head but hit her head on the wood of the closet. Hope didn't seem to notice the sound.

"Don't move around so much," Cloud managed to say while looking away from her. He could feel his face heating up. Tifa just nodded shyly.

At the sound of the stirring on the bed, Tifa peeked through the small crack at the closet door. "She's waking up."

Tifa tried to ignore the feeling of Cloud's chest against her cheek as she continued to watch Hope and Lightning.

"Ugh," Lightning groaned as she tried to sit while holding her head.

Hope just stood beside the bed, holding a glass of water in one hand.

But before anything could happen, Hope was tackled and he dropped the glass and in one swift movement, he was trapped under Lightning. She used her body weight to pinned Hope down and her hand immediately went to her waist only to notice she was unarmed.

Lightning looked at her attire and almost panicked but she recovered fast, using her hands to choke him instead.

Hope struggled to breathe as he tried to pry her hands off his throat but to no avail. She continued to put pressure on her grip and again, Hope didn't seem to put much effort to release himself.

Tifa was about to bust down the closet's door but Cloud stopped her. His eyes were stern.

A tear escaped Hope's eyes and that seemed to have an immediate effect on Lightning as she loosened up her grip on him. At the sudden entrance of air into his lungs, Hope coughed and it took a while for him to catch his breath.

Lightning's eyes seemed to focus when she realized what she had done.

Blue-green eyes looked up to the woman straddling him.

"Light," his voice was coarse but clear. He was still alive.

Lightning took a long look at the man beneath her and it all came back crashing down to her. This was the man she was supposed to kill to collect his soul in order to free her sister. This was the man that was supposed to collect her soul to bring back order in the time distortion. This was the man that confessed his undying love for her even after many attempts were made to kill him. This was also the one man she still couldn't collect his soul because she always seemed to hesitate to end his life.

"Hope," she finally acknowledged in a low voice.

There was only silence that followed as they both stared into each other's eyes.

"Why didn't you avoid my attack back then?" Lightning questioned in a disapproving manner.

"I've told you Light, I'll end this fight. I'm not gonna fight you anymore." Hope looked content even though he was far from danger.

"So, you're gonna just die?" Lightning asked again, utterly confused by Hope's reaction. Cloud stiffened at her question, suddenly remembering Tifa's exact question to him months earlier. Although Hope always acted so carefree and happy, it seemed like they were similar in that sense.

"If it puts an end to your misery Light, you can collect my soul. Do it now," Hope voice was nothing but a whisper but full with determination. He placed Lightning's hands on his neck once again and using his own strength, he strangled himself.

"Stop it!" Lightning tried to pull back her hand but Hope held her hands firmly.

As she felt the pressure increased, she panicked. "Hope, let go of my hands!"

"Let go!" Lightning demanded as she saw Hope's face became paler.

As soon as Hope's strength faltered, Lightning released him. "You idiot!"

Hope just looked at her face longingly, "I'm serious Light. Take my life now. Let's put an end to this."

Lightning let out a cry in frustration as she looked away from him.

There was a moment of silence before Lightning finally sighed.

"Stop messing with my head, Hope." She clenched her fists.

"Then, why don't you stop fucking with my heart?" He asked her back. There was no anger in his voice, just pure regret at how things turned out for them.

Lightning seemed to be taken aback as she sat back on his laps, not understanding why he was so adamant about this matter.

"What exactly do you want Hope?" She gave up, not bothering about keeping up a façade anymore.

Hope raised himself and sat with Lightning still straddling him and held both of her arms tightly.

"What I want?" He repeated. "Everything that I want is what I'm holding right now," his tone was firm but again no anger in it, just pure determination to make the woman understand.

It took everything in his fibre not to shake the woman into some sense but he looked at her intently.

Finally, when Lightning met his eyes, she swallowed back. "I'm tired of fighting, but it's a God that we are up against."

"And what about you? What exactly do you want?" Hope asked her back. He was finally seeing some positive reaction from her.

Lightning looked deep in thought before a small smile made to her face that made her look younger and alive.

Slowly, Lightning raised a hand and brushed his cheek tenderly. "For once in my life, I'd actually want something for myself."

* * *

It was as if the time stopped as Lightning leaned down towards Hope and pressed her lips on him. It was like a trial and uncertain. The light feeling of his lips on hers made her stomach knotted but she kept a steady hold on him.

She was pulling back as she opened her eyes to gauge Hope's reaction but he immediately leaned forward to capture her lips once again. She melted almost immediately into him as the kiss became heated. She couldn't help but to smile in the kiss as his lips curved into a smile as well.

As Lightning's hands began to snake around Hope's neck and grabbed his hair, Hope took the opportunity to hold her waist and pulled her closer to him. The shirt that Tifa gave Lightning made it easier for him to make contact with the skin underneath and he hummed in approval.

Meanwhile in the closet, Tifa tried to look away from the crack only to bump her nose at Cloud's chin. "They're making out in _my_ bed?"

"Shh!" Tifa's hand immediately flew to cover his mouth from making any more noise. It'd be more embarrassing to get caught now.

"Lower down your voice!" She hissed.

"Don't tell me we're going to wait like this while they're making out on my bed?"

Cloud tried to talk while Tifa's hand was still covering his mouth.

Tifa tried to peek again but with every movement Tifa made, she kept on brushing some place on his body that had an instant reaction to her.

"We can't just walk out right now, can we?" she replied back in a low voice.

The look that Cloud gave her was one that said he didn't care but Tifa caught his hand before he could open the door.

"Just let them be," she looked down at his chest, away from his intense gaze. Her reaction somewhat managed to calm him down.

They were standing facing each other and couldn't meet each other's' eyes. At the sound of the bed creaking, there was no need to see to know that Hope had pinned Lightning down beneath him as they continued to kiss.

It was a long and torturous moment hearing the groans from Hope and the sighs coming out from Lightning, making the temperature in the cramped closet unbearable.

Tifa bit her lips a few times to occupy herself from fidgeting as she heard the sound of clothes being discarded onto the floor.

She looked up to see Cloud had his eyes closed and when she lowered her gaze, she realized their hands were still intertwined.

Cloud seemed to be breathing normally but Tifa was feeling uncomfortable with the situation they were in. Her breath was coming out short and she tried to calm her nerves. There was no need to be panicked.

"Hey, look at me." His voice came out huskier than usual but Tifa looked up to meet calm blue eyes.

"Don't think about the space so much. Focus on me," he added and Tifa tried to clear her head.

She felt his fingers rubbing on her knuckles and took deep breaths.

"I'm alright," she whispered and a small smile escaped his lips.

"That brat really had it in him," Cloud tried to lighten up the air and Tifa's face turned red at the sound of the sharp breath of Lightning and a muffled groan from Hope.

After that, it was quiet except for the sound of their own breath.

"I guess they're done then," Cloud teasingly said as he peeked at the crack. They were both under covers.

They could hear the two talking about some random things. "Tifa is pretty, isn't she?" Lightning suddenly said.

Tifa arched her brow at hearing her name being mentioned.

Hope raised his head and turned to Lightning. "She definitely is. Did you two meet before?"

Lightning shook her head and looked away from the young man, trying to hide her face.

"I saw them from the time distortion. She runs a bar and takes care of children right?" Lightning asked.

Hope nodded silently with a teasing smile on his handsome face.

Lightning pulled the sheet to cover her face.

"She can cook, good with children, look that beautiful with chest like that," Lightning mumbled while turning her body away from Hope. "No one can compete with that."

Hope's face broke out to a silly grin. So the saviour _was_ a woman after all.

"No wonder why you'd kiss her," Lightning added feeling the bitterness bubbling up in her chest. Tifa looked down at her hand nervously remembering that little embarrassing incident.

Cloud suppressed the growl at the back of his throat at the mention of it.

Hope closed the gap between them and held the stiff Lightning close to his chest and buried his face in her hair.

"Sorry you had to see that." He whispered to her nuzzling her neck. "But I meant no harm when I did that. Plus, we're Hope and Light, Light and Hope. There's no changing that."

Lightning seemed satisfied with that and turned to face Hope and planted a kiss on him.

It took a while until they heard the voice of Marlene and Denzel announcing their return at the bar that made Hope and Lightning got up from the bed.

They were dressing up when Hope suddenly turned to Lighting and grabbed her hands.

"I'm not letting you go. We're in this together. We worked against Bhunivelze before and we can fight this together," he said determinedly.

Lightning just nodded in agreement. "You really live up to your namesake, Hope."

It was around 15 minutes after the room was emptied only then Cloud and Tifa stepped out from the closet.

"Remind me to change the covers later," Cloud finally spoke and Tifa replied with a chuckle.

* * *

The four adults looked at each other as they sat at the bar, figuring how the time distortion worked. Lightning and Hope needed to return to their world as their time travel was causing a major disruption all over the Planet.

"I can open a portal with this but it's the last one," Lightning showed them a glowing materia like device.

"That's the Ultima Artefact," Hope explained as he stood up.

"We got it after Bhunivelze was defeated. I thought I lost it," Hope studied the artefact carefully, getting into his Director mode immediately.

"I found it after our last battle, you dropped it just before you fell into that portal and ended up here," Lightning replied in a cool manner.

"But?" Tifa sensed something was amiss.

Hope shot a look at Lightning, uncertainly.

"It will lead us to the final battle against Bhunivelze darkness but we wont know under what condition it will be. What century we'll be in, how old I will be or whether I will remember anything that had happened today," Hope walked around the bar still holding the artefact.

"I'm worried if you become his vessel again Hope." Lightning finally said.

All eyes turned to her.

"I can't defeat all the darkness knowing that the one I'm fighting is you," she added solemnly.

For once, Hope looked lost.

In the end, it came back to killing one and another.

There was a tense silence in the bar before Cloud finally spoke.

"The darkness will always be there, Hope. You just need someone to surround you with light."

Tifa's head shot up, feeling somewhat familiar with his words.

"We can run away from darkness but if you can find your light, don't lose sight of it," Cloud said while looking at Tifa.

Hope looked deep in thought and nodded.

"Sometimes even if you feel like you're fighting a losing battle, don't give up. Once you give up that's when you lose the battle," Cloud added.

"Yup, after all there can be no Hope without Light, and no Light without Hope, can it?" Tifa made her way to Lightning and placed her hands on Lightning's shoulders.

Lightning gave her a smile and agreed.

"Come on Hope, we got a century long battle to end and a God's curse to break," Lightning got up from her seat and made her way to Hope.

"And a time distortion to fix," Hope added, looking at the blonde warrior with his brunette companion.

"Sorry about the mess we've caused and will be causing in your world but thank you," Hope said as he held out his hand to Cloud.

Cloud returned the gesture firmly.

"Ready?" Lightning looked at Hope. He nodded.

Once Lightning opened the portal, bright lights illuminated the bar and they could feel the ground shook.

Hope took hold of Lightning's hand and they took a step into the portal.

"I'll find you once all of this end."

Lightning smiled and squeezed his hand. "I'll wait for you."

As their figures were being engulfed with the bright lights, Cloud and Tifa could hear Hope's teasing voice calling out to them.

"We're fighting against time, a bastardly God and centuries to be together. You're an idiot if you don't make your move, Cloud! She's right next to you!"

"Go win your battle, brat!" Cloud called back but with a small smile on his face.

The bar shook roughly and Tifa had to cover her eyes from the bright lights before everything went quiet again.

Cloud looked around and noticed nothing had changed. Even the bottles that Tifa had arranged on the shelves remained unmoved.

"I hope they'll make it." Tifa whispered softly.

"They will." Cloud replied. "After all, that brat has his namesake to upkeep."

Tifa smiled and agreed with him. His eyes lingered on her face longer than usual.

"Tifa, we're hungry," Marlene's voice broke the tranquillity and the adults immediately fell back to their routine.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Hope and Lightning had just returned to their world. I'll make lunch immediately."

Denzel and Marlene looked at one and another. "Who are Hope and Lightning?"

It was the adult's turn to be perplexed.

Cloud looked at his phone, "The date has changed."

"It's just before I found Hope in that alley!" Tifa gasped when she saw the date on his phone and looked at Cloud.

They were silent as they look at the children.

"You said you need to pick up some groceries today Tifa. Do you want me to come with you?" Marlene asked.

"Yeah, it'll be raining this evening they say," Denzel added as he looked at his adoptive parents.

"It's okay Marlene. I'll bring Tifa to the grocer." Cloud volunteered and dragged Tifa to the kitchen.

"That was why that brat apologized."

"What just happened?" Tifa questioned.

It was quite a while before Cloud answered.

"Time distortion."

Tifa looked lost in thought. Everything that had happened was erased as soon as Hope and Lightning went back to their world. There was no traces of them left behind as well.

"It couldn't be,' Tifa thought as she touched her lips, feeling a tingling sensation where Hope stole a kiss from her. It was real. They were real.

Looking at the woman in front of her lost in thought while holding her lips like she was trying to replay some memories made Cloud grunted.

'Brat, I need to erase _this_ trouble you leave behind.' He sighed as blew out some of his hair from his face.

* * *

 **A/N - Yep, I shipped Hopurai as well! And who would've thought it was going to be this long. Let's see who will make an appearance next.**


	2. Chapter 2

***edited - thanks to Guest for letting me know there was something wrong with the format :)**

 **Okay, it's almost midnight here and I can't seem to sleep until I write and publish this story. It's not related to the first chapter, and I made up everything, as always.**

 **This takes place after Cloud failed his first SOLDIER exam and his buddies decided to take him out to cheer him up. I hope I didn't make the characters too OOC. Enjoy!**

 **Thanks to the two reviewers from the first chapter! This goes out to you sunflowerspot & GloriousCreation [I love Hope too much to let Tifa kick his ass in the first chapter :) ]**

Not betaed, since I'm a compulsive publisher ;)

 **CHAPTER 2 - The Punishment Game**

"You're insane."

He replied nonchalantly as he took another sip of his drink, trying to ignore his friend's excitement.

"Come on Cloud! You promised!" The dark haired man slapped his back, trying to let the blonde loosened up.

Cloud almost chocked on his drink as he sent the dark haired man a warning glare.

Zack just let out a laugh at his friend's reaction but took a seat next to him, gulping down his drink in a single shot.

"Plus, you're like a representative of the whole batch for this challenge. And mind you, you got it better than the rest of them. At least you get to keep your clothes on," Zack added.

Cloud huffed his breath roughly.

Why did he agree to Zack's idea in the first place?

It all started during the SOLDIER's field exam. Zack, who had make it to First Class challenged them, the new candidates to pass the exam and they made a bet whoever failed, they're gonna to get punished, the Zack Fair's way.

Five people failed including Cloud, which put him in the current situation. The Turks; Reno and Rude gang up with Zack and Kunsel as they managed to drag Cloud out of the quarters that night to carry out his punishment.

Although it still baffled him why they brought him to this bar.

Looking around the bar, his eyes landed on the lady behind the bar, who was serving a drink to her customer while chatting animatedly.

Everyone in SOLDIER knew who she was. Scratch that, everyone in Midgar knew who she was.

Tifa Lockhart, owner of the 7th Heaven, the Planet's renowned martial artist which could throw a mean punch if you got on the wrong side of her.

Reno had a first hand experience of that. Cloud smiled a little at the thought.

What they didn't know was, he had always known Tifa. They were childhood friends. Well, technically they grew up together in Nibelheim. She was the town's sweetheart and all the boys liked her, but Cloud was the town's outcast so, Cloud had never spoken to her except on the night he informed her that he was leaving town to join SOLDIER and she had wished him luck. It made him swell with pride.

They were well aware of each other's existence, at the very least.

When they met each other at Midgar, she had told him where she was working but he could never gather his nerves to drop by to see her on his own. He only came to the bar with a group of people.

Yep, all the boys back in Nibelheim had liked Tifa, including him.

"Yeah, man. You should've been there when Kunsel failed his test," Reno interrupted his bubble of thought. "He was a nightmare wearing a gown, yo!"

The whole table laughed, even Kunsel did, thinking lightly of the situation.

"Zack really had me that time." Kunsel looked at Cloud.

"But it definitely managed to boost me up to pass the next round of exam," Kunsel's voice was sincere and filled with admiration as he turned to Zack.

Zack just gave him a casual salute as recognition.

"I mean after wearing a gown and having to act like a drag queen in the Wall Market, failing the exam was nothing compared to that!" Kunsel added again.

"And Reno had it worse. His ego is still bruised from his punishment," Rude who was silent, suddenly said.

"Come on Rude, that is still a sore subject!" Reno replied as one of his hand rubbed his nose, remembering the incident. "Who knew she could punch like that?"

Reno's eyes went to the lady in question and shuddered. She definitely looked harmless but he knew better now.

"Who told you to grab her like a pervert? I told you to ask her out on a date, not grope her," Zack replied to the red-haired man.

"I was wasted! It's not like I can help it!" Reno shrugged. "Plus I make a better Turk than a SOLDIER anyway."

They laughed again. Even Cloud chuckled a little.

"Just do it Cloud, you'll feel better after that," Kunsel encouraged him again.

Cloud admitted he was feeling down after he'd failed the exam but seeing how his friends were putting in effort to lift up his spirit, he gave in to their request.

Cloud placed down his glass on the table and took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing."

Zack cheered as he saw Cloud getting up from his seat and pushed a glass into his hand. "Get me another shot!"

The table was in havoc as Cloud made his way to the counter.

"Embrace your dreams! And whatever happens, protect your honor as SOLDIER!" Cloud heard Zack called from his back and his grip around glass turned tighter.

* * *

Cloud stopped at the centre of the counter, right in front of where Tifa was standing as she was wiping a glass.

Two warm wine colored orbs met him and they lighted up. "Hi Cloud. Haven't seen you around much."

Cloud bit back a groan. This was harder than what he thought.

He placed Zack's glass on the counter.

"Hey Tifa. Sorry, I was busy these past months," Cloud replied as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Was she waiting for him to come to the bar?

Tifa gave him a shy smile.

"So what can I get you?" She asked to break the silence. "Seems like you got some sort of celebration going on?"

Cloud let out a sigh in respond, "Not exactly a celebration."

Tifa looked at him in question.

"Then, the punishment game?" She inquired and took Cloud off guard.

"You knew about that?" Cloud asked and she nodded with a smile.

"A little. I still remembered giving Reno a bloody nose," she chuckled softly. The hair covered her cheeks a little and Cloud fought the urge to push it back to get a better look at her face.

"Uh, yeah, about that..." Cloud stammered. He was back being the boy from Nibelheim, who had a crush on his next door neighbour.

Tifa stopped her chuckles and looked up at him.

"All you had to do was ask," she said and Cloud's eyes widened. Tifa was actually doing him a favor to complete his punishment.

"I was...uh..." Cloud held the back of his neck uncomfortably as he heard the voices of his friends encouraging him from across the room.

Tifa looked pass behind him to the table and shook her head, "Boys."

Cloud couldn't help but to let out a small laugh that immediately drained out his uncertainty.

He met Tifa's eyes.

"I was supposed to get a kiss from you," Cloud announced and for a moment he thought he saw Tifa's cheeks turned red. But her hair managed to cover it.

Tifa gave a small nod and lifted her head.

"Alright," she said and leaned a little towards him.

Cloud looked down at the woman in front of him and wondered why didn't she smack him like she did to Reno?

But all his thoughts went out the window when he saw her lidded eyes looked at him shyly and her head tilted at just the right angle for him.

So, he wasted no time.

Cloud leaned against the counter and lifted one of his gloved hand to push the strand of hair that kept on covering her face and tucked it behind her ear as he closed the gap between them.

Soft.

That was his first thought as he came into contact with her lips.

Sweet, when he moved his lips against hers in a caressing manner.

Hot, when he felt her responding to him and he didn't back down.

With one hand in her hair, Cloud pulled her closer to him and she supported her weight on the counter with one hand as her other hand went to his neck before making its way to the nape of his hair.

Cloud tasted her lips and she was very responsive, not giving in as she met his fire with her own fire.

This was what it felt like to kiss Tifa Lockhart.

Cloud was lost in his thoughts as he began tracing her lips with his tongue and without hesitation she let him in.

He took every inch of her mouth to sample and bit back a smile when he felt her putting up a resistance before giving in to him in a teasingly manner.

It wasn't long before he was pulled back to the ground when he realized his friends were wolf whistling and catcalling.

"Man, you can let her breathe now!" Maybe it was Zack or maybe Reno, Cloud couldn't hear clearly.

His mind was hazy and he felt like he couldn't stop. Tifa seemed to be lost as well or she was good at ignoring the noises.

"Jeez! I might gonna need a cold shower after all that show!" Another voice boomed across the bar and that seemed to bring back reality to him.

He slowed down his ministration and pulled back. He felt a tug on his dog tag and heard a soft whimper, "Mm... Just a little more," and he was being pulled back to her lips.

They were lost in their own world, he took that opportunity to remember everything about her. The scent of her that always had a mixture of fruits and alcohol, the taste of her; sweet and tempting and the warmth of her; that always radiate all around her that reminded him of home.

Cloud gently coaxed her lips gently and gave her bottom lip a soft bite before they slowed down and finally separated, gasping for air.

Tifa held him close as she squeezed her eyes tightly and pursing her lips together as if trying to ground herself.

Cloud felt her uneven breath on his cheeks and soon she met his eyes shyly. He knew his face was probably red from the session but dear Shiva, the sight of her cheeks flushed and lips swollen made him groaned inwardly.

"Yeah, rub it on my face man!" This time Cloud could make out Reno's voice from all the noises in the bar.

Cloud smirked to himself before releasing Tifa, kicking himself mentally for losing her warmth.

"Thank you," his voice came out as a whisper.

Tifa just shook her head lightly as she leaned back on her feet, her hair was back to covering her face. Cloud managed to stop his hand on time from pushing it away from her face.

"Tifa, if you're back from Cloud Nine, I'd like a refill please!" Zack called from across the bar and laughters erupted.

"Coming right up," Tifa replied back cheerily as she turned to fill up Zack's glass and passed it back to Cloud.

Cloud gave her a lingering look before he picked up the glass and smiled before retreating back to his table.

"Hey Cloud," he heard her call him and he turned his head to look at her.

"Tell Zack it was strawberry," Tifa said and Cloud nodded in acknowledgement, fully understood what she meant.

"And good luck for the next round of the exam," she added with a wink and Cloud smiled again.

When he reached to his table, they were indeed celebrating, like he was some kind of a hero that had just returned from winning a war.

It no longer felt like it was a punishment game.

* * *

It was almost close to midnight and after a drunken Reno confessed his love to a wine bottle, the boys decided to call it a night. Cloud told them to go back first and he waited at the back entrance of the bar.

The back door finally opened and Cloud looked up from his feet and saw the woman he was waiting for standing at the door, frozen.

"Hey," he managed to say and that seemed to took her out from the trance.

"You're still here?" She questioned him as she locked the door behind her. Tifa arranged the scarf around her neck and her breaths came out as puffs in the cold weather.

Winter was approaching. Cloud, however was unaffected.

"I'll walk you home," Cloud announced softly and somehow that made the woman smiled again.

Her apartment was just nearby but knowing that he was there to walk her back tonight made her grinned like a fool.

Silently, they walked side by side and Cloud slowed down his strides to match hers.

Tifa seemed to be lost in thoughts.

After a while, she finally spoke.

"Gil for your thoughts."

Cloud turned to her with a bewildered look on his face.

After composing himself he replied, "You made it easy for me."

Tifa snapped her head to the front, avoiding his intense eyes.

Again, she let her hair covered the side of her face.

"Reno got punched, Zack was pushed down a roof and Rude was petrified with your stare. He even wore sunglasses tonight."

Cloud fluently recalled what his comrades told him after he returned to the table. They were very surprised at the turnout of the event and even Zack jokingly called him 'Master' after he told him the flavor of Tifa's lipgloss.

"Well, Reno kinda deserved it. And for Zack, that was how he met Aerith. Plus, you can't deny Rude looks cool with the shade." Tifa blurted as she felt her cheeks were going to betray her again.

"Why?" He questioned again.

Tifa stopped right in front of a small apartment and spun around to face him.

With a small giggle she said, "That's for me to know and for you to find out." She reached up to him and placed a peck on his cheek.

"Thanks for walking me home, Cloud. Good night." With that she turned and jogged up the stairs before unlocking the door and closed it behind her quickly.

Cloud just stood there, perplexed at her reaction but after a moment, a boyish grin broke his face and he knew he looked like a lovestruck fool.

He shook his head and turned to his quarters direction.

It was really late at night as Cloud was about to fall asleep in his bunk bed when he realized after all this years, he was still the shy and clueless boy from Nibelheim whose still had a seriously major crush on the girl next door.

-/-

Apparently authors' survival depend on review. Let me know if you enjoy it or why if you don't, till then!


	3. Chapter 3

_Synopsis – AU. Ever since they were young, Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart had never seen eye to eye. So what would happened when one day, she had to turn to his help to plan a birthday surprise for their friend?_

 **Chapter 3 - Truce**

He looked up at her with a questioning look in his eyes. Why was she trying to be difficult?

"What?" He asked flatly.

She crossed her arms, annoyed with his reaction. Her pretty pink lips were pulled into a thin line. Not that he was going to tell her what he thought of her lips.

"He is your friend. Don't you think you should at least participate in this?" She tapped her foot impatiently.

It was Wedge's birthday in three days' time and the people in the school was making a big deal out of it thanks to the pretty brunette who was confronting him and trying to coerce him to join their plan.

Wedge was a kind guy and he admitted that he found Wedge's company pleasant, considering him to be an outcast in this town.

But their love for machinery and bikes bonded the two of them. In fact, Wedge was planning to drop by with some supplies to his house later that day to see his progress on the old bike he had been working on for the past month.

So he didn't really want to get involve with the childish act of the town's kids of making such a big deal for his birthday.

Truth was, he knew the people in town were nice to Wedge because of the pissed off brunette standing next to his desk. Behind her back, they'd call him names and made fun of him because of his physical attributes. Simply because Wedge was raised by a single parent, just like him.

He knew he couldn't blame the girl for trying to make Wedge fit in but he would appreciate it so much if she could stop getting him involved.

He wasn't going to accepted by the people of Nibelheim, so he might as well shouldn't be bothered to start.

"Not interested." His answer was a short reply as he gathered his books and stuffed them into his bag.

"Don't you have any decency in that thick-chocobo-head of yours? It's Wedge special day and why was it so difficult for you to cooperate?"

He rose from his seat and slung the bag across his shoulders.

"Save your lecture to your little circle of worshippers, Lockhart. It doesn't work on me."

He walked away, avoiding the group of Lockhart's worshippers death glare.

"You are such a big ass pompous jerk! Can't you be nice for one second for the sake of your friend? It's not like we're asking you to sell your soul to the devil, it's just to make Wedge's birthday a memorable one, you jerk!" It was fun to see the prim and proper daughter of the Lockhart household to be riled up, he smirked to himself.

"If it wasn't because of Wedge, do you think I would spend another minute of my time being in the same room with your irritating, girly looking face?" She spat.

Okay, you just crossed the limit again Lockhart.

He close his eyes and blew out a breath, trying to regain his composure. No one made fun of his face and got away with it.

"Touche. Then make haste so that my lovely face won't have to see yours that could scare a Behemoth any second longer." He replied coolly and she reacted by clenching her fist.

One eye brow drawn up like she just discover a point, the young Lockhart looked smug.

"Well, thanks to a certain friend of yours that slipped up an info that you had a massive crush on your neighbour's daughter with this Behemoth-scaring face."

Damn you Wedge. It was just a one time slip from his side when Wedge caught his staring too long at the brunette.

And damn the likes of her. Knowing how she looked and using it to her advantage.

"I didn't realize the Lockhart has a daughter. With all the martial art class and monstrous strength, I always thought they had a son." He retaliated. The whole room was left agape.

It was rare to hear him spoke more than a sentence at one time but with this god forsaken brunette, he felt like he was on a roll.

Her lips thinned again. She should stop doing that or he would always find a way to instigate it.

He turned around to walk away.

"Oh, is this your idea of coming out about your orientation? Don't worry little Cloud. We're here to support you." She mocked.

"Shut up Lockhart," he demanded, meeting her fiery eyes with his icy ones.

"Make me," she challenged. With a small smirk on his face, "I will. But I might make you moan a little."

Everyone at school knew about her incident with Rufus Shinra, a transfer student from Midgar. He seemed like a decent guy at first but Rufus fondness of giving out monologue irritated him.

Being the town's sweetheart, Rufus tried to woo Tifa but to no avail. Pulling one dick head move, he announced to the school that he managed to take her virginity one night.

'She moaned my name like a chant of prayer,' as the Shinra dick head put it when he was proudly bragging about it.

Tifa didn't even bother to clear her name as she gave one mean hook to his nose and the boy was transferred out of Nibelheim the next day.

The night Shinra claimed to be deflowering her, she spent it going up Mount Nibel, which her father forbade. It was her mother's death anniversary and it was a habit of hers to go up the mountain in remembrance of her mother's passing..

Of course, only he knew about the truth, he followed her up the mountain secretly, every year. No one should know about it.

At his finishing blow to the brunette, he turned around again to exit the room.

Then, he felt something hit the back of his head and a pen bounced off his shoulder.

She'd always had good aim.

Instead of angry stomp of her feet, he heard only light footsteps passed by him, with her head bowed down.

As she passed by him, it felt as if his own heart had been struck down when he saw one single lone drop of tears graced down her cheek.

* * *

"Cloud, you were too rough on her."

Wedge looked at his blonde friend who was bent down as he was wiping off some oil spill from the bike he was working on.

He remained quiet.

"Johnny told me what happened in the class yesterday. I'm surprised you haven't been sporting any black eye." Wedge added.

Cloud was deep in thought. Just as he knew how to rile her up, she also knew exactly how to ruffle his feathers.

"I kinda lost my cool when she mentioned about my massive crush on her, thanks to you." He gave Wedge a pointed look.

"Heh… About that. I'm sorry man." Wedge apologised.

"It kinda slipped up when I was talking to her. You know how persuasive she could be," Wedge scratched his temple, an act he noticed Wedge always do when he was nervous.

"You mean, forceful?" Cloud corrected his friend.

"Come on Cloud. This bickering between the two of you has gotta stop at some point. It has been going for years." Wedge came close to where he was sitting and took a seat next to him.

Wedge had to admit he was really impressed with the work Cloud had done on the old bike. It was left by his late father.

His mother was going to leave it to rust but one day, a very young Cloud Strife approached them and asked if it was okay if he fix it.

That was their first encounter that broke the wall between them and ever since then, Wedge would bring supplies and parts for Cloud.

"Wedge, if she could stop being so difficult for once maybe this war wouldn't have happened," Cloud explained as he looked deep in thoughts. Wedge was aware of the look of guilt on his face, despite of his demeanour.

"Yes, but wasn't that what make Tifa who she is?" Wedge asked. "And made her hotter than most girls?"

Cloud threw the rag he was holding to Wedge and it landed on his face.

Cloud got up on his feet. Maybe he did go a little overboard.

"Aww come on man. We both know that as the truth. And you still has the hots for her," Wedge added with a chuckle.

"Like you don't," the blonde quipped and earn a hearty laughter from Wedge.

"Yeah, I like her alright. She cooks well and feeds me some of her masterpiece." Wedge replied.

"But I'm not the one who looked at her like my heart was going to burst every time she walked nearby. And I'm not the one who would spend some night outside her window to hear her piano practice," Wedge managed to duck as another dirty rag was aimed towards him.

"Fine, I'll go and apologise." Cloud gave up and he wiped off the sweat from his forehead with a clean towel.

* * *

It didn't take him long to find her in her make shift practice room nearby his garage.

He was thankful that her practice room was at a distance from her house. He knew how well her father dislike him. That man never made an effort to hide it.

He didn't want to deal with another Lockhart within the same day.

He heard the sound of her voice straining as the sound of her punch landed on the punching bag.

He'd hated it if he were on the end side of her fist. That girl could really punch.

She didn't bother to acknowledge him as he opened the door and entered the room.

Dressed up in her usual fighting outfit, she was definitely a sight to behold in her dark blue vest and a miniskirt. He still couldn't understand why she had chosen that attire.

She continued to punch and kick as if she was facing an opponent. Her stance had improved a lot.

It went on for a few minutes before she slowed down and stopped. She didn't even turn to look at him as she spat, "What do you want?"

Okay, it was a well planned script in his head but when he was standing in front of her, the script just vanished into thin air.

"No one's allowed to be here. So get out if you're just gonna stand there like a lost chocobo," she began to unstrapped her gloves and placed them on a table that was attached to the wall.

"Look, can you stop being so difficult for once in your life? I'm trying here," he finally found his voice.

It seemed like it was easier for him to speak to her when he was annoyed.

"Trying what?" She finally turned with a hand on her hips.

Cloud closed his eyes as he blew out his breath in an attempt to stay calm.

She wasn't going to make it easy for him.

"I told you if you're not gonna stop being like a lost chocobo, leave. You know the way out." With a dismissal wave of her hand, she turned around and opened a water bottle and drunk its content.

Her comment about him looking like a chocobo had gotta stop.

His strides were determined and purposeful as he made his way towards her. The brunette was unfazed as she continued to ignore him.

Once he reached behind her, he grabbed her arm and spun her around, causing her to lose her grip on her water bottle. To his dismay, she was ready as she launched her free fist to him but he blocked it and twisted to her back, successfully locking her movement.

She struggled against his hold but he was stronger.

"Let go of me, you jerk." There was a hint of panic in her voice as she tried to escape from him.

"Make another comment about chocobo and I'll teach you a lesson," his voice was low but filled with warning.

"Like I care. I'm not scared of you!" Her eyes were filled with rage as she fought him back.

"You should learn when to shut up, Lockhart. That mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble one of these days." The words came out though his gritted teeth.

She tried to use her weight to push him away but he tightened his grip on her and she gasped at the pain.

It took him just one second to lose control and the next moment, he already had her mouth enveloped with his.

She immediately froze and through his half lidded eye he saw her wine coloured eyes widened.

As he felt her stopped struggling, he took the risk of releasing her hands and snaked his arms towards her waist and down to her hips.

Her immediate respond was to pressed her lithe body to him and he could feel every curve of her body.

He groaned as he continued to assault her mouth. A short gasped escaped her as he lifted her and pinned her to the table.

It made him harder down below.

He didn't waste any time to enter her mouth and let his evident hardness pressed in between her legs.

Deep inside his head he knew what he did was wrong but his heart desired for her. He craved to taste her.

He tilted her head to get a better angle and in automation, he moved his hips against her.

That earned him a moan from her and she responded by wrapping her long legs around his hips in encouragement.

Her hands wandered around his chest and slipped under his shirt as he worked on her mouth, his tongue dominating hers and his hips steadily moved to match hers.

It was as if they had done this before to know where he touched caused her to whimper with pleasure or her hips would buck when he hit the right spot.

All he could hear was his own erratic breathing and her soft moans as he began kissing her neck, down to her chest.

This was years of fights and bickering finally lead to. All of the insult, mockery and anger that had been build up were finally released in a hot and passionate way.

The sound of his cellphone went off broke them and his head immediately shot up, putting an end to his assault.

He was breathing hard and when his eyes refocused, he finally snapped back to reality.

The girl of his dream was pinned below him, looking as lost as he was but with the same burning of passion in her eyes.

They looked down at each other and she gasped in horror when she saw his shirt and her skirt were bunched up to reveal a lot of skin. Her fighting vest was zipped down and she was exposed to him.

He saw the slightly pink mark that marred the skin of her chest.

'What the hell did I just do?'

He swallowed back as he took out his cellphone and looked at the screen.

Wedge was calling him.

"Cloud, I'm heading back home. My ma needs some stuff. See ya tomorrow." Wedge's voice greeted him.

"Yeah," his voice came out hoarse but then he corrected his voice. "Tomorrow."

He hang up his phone.

He totally had forgotten that Wedge was still in his garage. He hadn't mean to drag on but time wasn't something he had in mind.

He got off the table and leaned against the wall, a distance away from her.

For the first time, she was at loss for words.

Zipping up her vest and steadying her breath, he saw her looking away. He couldn't make out her expression with her long hair covering her face.

This was awkward.

"Wedge will be at the garage tomorrow night. So you can drop by then if you want to surprise him," he managed to say in a neutral tone.

Her head snapped to look at him.

"You did it!" She clasped her hands together.

"He didn't want to go out from his house for his birthday because he knew you'll be planning something." He explained.

"So he thought it's just the two of us only hanging out tomorrow night."

She immediately changed to being that town's sweetheart again.

"It's going to be a lot of fun tomorrow!" She squealed in joy.

"I think Wedge would appreciate it if it's just a small thing," Cloud cut her joy short.

"Fine. I'm willing to compromise," she huffed out her breath.

He gave a small nod before making his way to the door.

"Hey Cloud," she called just before he exited. "Thanks for helping out."

He turned a little. "No problem."

"Sorry about yesterday. I was too much," he finally said, meeting her eyes.

"It's okay. I was pretty mean too. But that's what we always do all these years," the small smile on her face had a tinge of shyness.

Another moment of awkwardness filled up the air.

He nodded his head, "So, I'll see you tomorrow."

She shot him another smile that what Wedge would've called as 'bursting out his heart.'

"See you tomorrow, Cloud."

Damn you, Wedge.

* * *

When the lights in the garage suddenly went out, that was when he knew it was starting.

"I'll check the fuse box to see if there's anything wrong," Cloud volunteered as he got up from his seat.

He pretended to be fumbling with the switch for a while.

"Open up the door. It's getting stuffy in here," Cloud said.

As soon as Wedge opened the door, Cloud turned and saw the event that unfold.

An off tune group of people singing the Happy Birthday song, one of them holding a birthday cake while Wedge tripped back and landed on his butt out of surprise.

"Happy birthday to you…" The song ended as he made his way to Wedge.

He helped Wedge up as the group applauded.

"Come on, make a wish a blow off the candles!" The smile of her face was bright, besides the fact that only the candles were illuminating the room.

"You guys…" Wedge's voice broke as he held back his tears.

"Come on birthday boy. We baked the cake ourselves," Biggs said.

Tifa held out the cake to Wedge.

"Make a wish Wedge," she encouraged and Wedge turned to look at him.

He motioned to the cake.

"I wish the two of you would get along," and with that Wedge blew off the candles.

In an instant, the lights were turned on.

"Here you go Cloud," a soft voice greeted him from his back.

Jessie passed him a key with her head lowered.

"Thanks, Jessie." He replied as he placed the key into his jeans pocket.

She just nodded as she mumbled something and stood next to Tifa.

"Come on, we've prepared a feast for you, with maximum supervision by Tifa," Biggs announced as they all made their way outside.

Having his true and closest friends to celebrate his birthday must've mean a lot to Wedge.

It was just Biggs, Jessie and Tifa but the look on Wedge's face was priceless. Maybe deep down Wedge wanted people to remember his birthday despite saying the opposite.

A voice broke him out of his reverie.

"What are you doing standing there? And stop looking like a lost chocobo," she teased him.

He pretended to shoot her an annoyed look.

"You know what happened the last time you call me that blasted name." His tried to make it sound like a warning.

She turned her head in an attempt to dismiss him but he pulled her hand to stop her from walking out of the garage.

She turned to look at him in question.

"And Tifa," he called her name and released her hand. "I'm not sorry for it."

Her face turned red but after a while, a small chuckle escaped her as she just shook her head.

"Whatever, chocobo head."

With a goofy grin plastered on their faces, they made their way to the small party outside.

Maybe calling a truce wasn't such a bad idea after all.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N – It's a really short and random prompt. Because every Cloti shipper needs to write about the 'Interrupted by fireworks' scene.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the previous chapters.

GloriousCreation – I'm glad you like the chapter and you're totally on point about the scene with Jessie. I think her crush on Cloud is just adorable.

To the guest reviewers, keep your eyes open for Truce, cause I'm already working on an alternative POV, at least in my head ;) This will be just a short drabble inspired by the firework show at my place some time ago.

 _Summary – As the city of Edge is celebrating life and survival, Tifa's mind begins to wonder about the time she fell in love with him._

 **Chapter 4 - Fireworks**

She never realised when was the first time she fell in love with him.

Maybe it was just before he left Nibelheim for SOLDIER. She admitted that she kept on thinking about him after he called her to the water tower that night.

Or maybe during the years when they were separated and all she could was look out for news about him.

Or even maybe when they were reunited again that brought them on the journey to stop Sephiroth.

"Come on, Tifa! You're gonna get left behind!" Marlene interrupted her thoughts. Tifa smiled to her and waved.

"I'm good here. You both go ahead and enjoy yourself," she called as she watcher Denzel grabbed Marlene's hand and ran towards the crowd.

"I'll look after Marlene." Denzel added before the two of them disappeared into the sea of people.

It was a day of celebration in Edge. Even years after Meteorfall and Deepground, there were still minor threats around but the people still found a reason to celebrate. They would still fight to live and find the strength to move on.

Standing on the balcony of the hall, Tifa looked at the crowd below. Everyone gathered around to prepare for the highlights of the night, the firework show.

True, Tifa couldn't help but to doubt the intention of Rufus Shinra and his Turks when they came out to help the people to rebuild back their lives. However since Reeve was around, she thought maybe they deserved a chance at redemption. By organising such event, Shinra was slowly winning back the people's trust.

A sudden presence behind her made her face broke into a soft smile. Without turning her head she asked, "Everything went well?"

A soft hum on her left indicated the owner of the voice had make himself comfortable standing next to her.

"I guess we could take a break tonight," he assured her with a stoic expression on his face.

"Thank Leviathian it hasn't started yet!" Yuffie's voice could be heard as Tifa saw the rest of Avalanche making their way to the crowd as well.

Marlene was perched on top of Barret's shoulders as she excitedly chatted with her father.

A sudden burst of lights and loud bang filled up the dark night sky of Edge and the people began to cheer.

Yuffie was jumping up and down excitedly as she pulled on Vincent's cape who just stood like a statue next to her.

Tifa looked up at the brilliant lights and thought, 'Yeah, maybe tonight we can have a little peace.'

Tifa turned to look at her companion who was immersed with the firework show.

He had a smile on his face that made his expression looked peaceful. It was a much more beautiful sight than any firework display.

Tifa finally came to realisation it didn't matter when she first fell in love with him. Instead, every single time she looked at the blonde man, she would fall in love again and again.

She must had been blatantly staring at him because he turned his head to her and met her eyes.

She suddenly remembered the night in Gold Saucer when they were interrupted by fireworks and how she chickened out after that.

He, on the other hand, just continued to look at her with a questioning look on his face.

Tifa gave out a smile to him.

"I just remembered the night at the Gold Saucer." She pointed to the fireworks.

He smiled again and with a swift movement of his hand, he pulled her hand that was pointing to the sky towards him and boldly leaned down to place his lips on hers.

The moment their lips met, she felt her chest erupted with fireworks. He watched her under lidded eye but automatically closed his eyes once he felt her responded.

She felt herself melted and pressed herself to him as one his hands circled her waist and pulled her closer.

His kisses were slow and soft, as if he was trying to remember every single curve of her lips and she felt her knees became weak. She was glad he was holding her as she couldn't trust her legs to not give away with the way he was kissing her.

His free hand cupped her jaw as he tilted his head to get better angle and she complied. She felt like her heart was soaring in the sky.

They were lost in their own world as the crowd was occupied with the fireworks.

Tifa felt him calming down and slowly brought her back to her feet, grounding herself after that feeling euphoria.

When he finally pulled back, they were both breathless, eyes still closed as his forehead leaned against hers.

"Tifa," he managed to murmur while catching his breath. "You're gonna be the death of me."

Tifa bit her lower lip as she finally became aware of her surrounding. The fireworks had finally came to an end and the crowd was happily cheering.

Once she opened her eyes, all she could see was Mako blue eyes. He was struggling to hold his ground just like she was.

Still clinging to him, all she could managed to whisper was, "Why?"

He brushed his thumb across her cheeks slowly as his eyes bore into her soul.

"Because you deserve the world," he replied. "And I'm gonna give it to you." He added just loud enough for her to hear.

The look in his eyes mirrored hers and she finally understood that words weren't the only way to let people knew how you felt.

They stayed like that for what felt like eternity.

"No! I just missed the Spiky-finally-man-up show!" She heard Yuffie calling from below. Her mouth was agape as she pointed to the balcony.

"We all know what always happen to childhood friends, anyway," Shelke added in her monotonous voice.

Tifa felt her cheeks heated up as the comments were followed with more teasing from their friends.

"It's about damn time you make your move, Cloud!" Cid bellowed.

Cloud gave out a small laugh but his eyes never leaving her already red face.

"They're not gonna let us go easily, huh?" Tifa covered her face with her hands in embarrassment.

Seeing her vulnerability, pulled her into another hug and spoke softly, "I'm just glad we didn't get interrupted this time."

Tifa returned the gesture by circling his neck and buried her face into his chest abashedly with a groan.

"It's okay. We're in this together." Cloud stroke her hair as he spoke in a light tone of voice.

Their friends continued to tease the pair and Tifa turned to face them with a hand on her hips.

"Keep on with the teasing and you'll be sleeping under the sky tonight," she said and that managed to put a stop to their friends antics.

Cloud laughed as he shook his head and pulled her into another hug.

"You really will be the death of me, Tifa."

* * *

P/s - Can anyone guess which Final Fantasy series had a similar scene to this one? ;)

Cloud is a little OOC but I guess when it's just the two of them, he always wear his heart on his sleeves.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N – Since I'm on a roll, I'll be posting 2 chapters in a row. This was inspired by a fan art I saw about a drunken Tifa straddling Cloud, and I just feel like doing a fic with tipsy Tifa. And a dose of Yuffentine as well.

I don't own the song use in this chapter. A purple singing dinosaur does. So no credit to me.

 _Summary – It is never a good idea to let Yuffie and Tifa to go out on their own. Vincent and Cloud learned it the hard way._

 **Chapter 6 – Happy Family**

"Hey, Cloud. I think you need to swing by my place like right now." He heard Johnny's message in the voicemail. He checked the time, 'That was one hour ago.'

He was confused by the message but grabbed his motorbike keys and headed out of the bar anyway.

Marlene and Denzel were fast asleep and he had just returned from delivering a package to Kalm before he noticed he had a voicemail.

Tifa was out with Yuffie, something about having some girls night out while Shelke was out of town with Reeve.

Cloud revved up the engine of Fenrir and in one smooth motion, he headed outskirts of Edge, where Johnny's Heaven was located.

* * *

"And try to dodge that! Ha ha!" Yuffie's voice could be heard as he made his way to Johnny's place.

Thank Shiva for his good reflexes, he managed to avoid a stray bottle that was heading straight towards his face as soon as he entered the bar.

A crash could be heard as he saw a flash of red swirling before it stopped next to him.

"Vincent?" He asked as he turned to the taller man, perplexed.

Vincent let out a grunt with his eyes closed as he nudged his head to the counter of the bar.

His eyes widened in disbelief as he saw Johnny cowering on a side of the bar as two very familiar dark haired women sat and were talking to him. But from the look of it, it was more like threatening.

"What's going on here?" He asked again and Vincent let out a heavy sigh.

"I received an emergency call from an anonymous number asking me to come here, stating that there was an attack at a local bar."

Cloud waited for him to continue.

"Turns out these two girls had too much drinks and was causing a scene in the bar," Vincent said.

"And when I arrived they won't let me come near them. That was why you were greeted with that bottle. It was aimed towards me," Vincent added as his eyes squinted to the smaller figure of the two women.

"Hah! He's finally here!" The smaller figure jumped from her seat, knocking some glasses in the process and he could see the look of relief on Johnny's face.

So they had decided to switch on him as the prey.

Yuffie, the brat.

The other figure lifted her head from the counter she had been resting on and trail of dark tresses moved, revealing two wine coloured eyes.

Tifa, the babe. He smirked to himself.

"Your highness. So you decided to grace us with your presence," she bowed her head carelessly. The two women were completely wasted.

"He's one example of a bad bad man!" Yuffie pointed an accusing finger towards him but Cloud remained quiet.

"Uh huh, that's right." Tifa nodded as she took another gulp of her drink. "Refill!"

Johnny's hands were shaking as he took out a bottle but Tifa snatched the bottle away from him.

Instead of making his way to her Cloud pulled a chair and sat in the middle of the bar, facing the two women, with his arms across his chest.

* * *

Cloud and Vincent sat next to one and another as the two women kept on teasing and complaining about them.

"You know Yuffie, the boys in town told me about the massive crush he had on me but I thought they were just crap talking." Hey eyes sparkled under the dim light.

"So, one day when I was climbing up the Mt Nibel to find my mama, all of those brats that called themselves my friends turned back and left me on my own."

A shadow of grief marred her usual cheerful face.

"The bridge that I was on broke and guessed who was there to save me?" She turned to the blonde.

"He didn't exactly have halo but as I was hanging for my life, I thought I saw an angel." Tifa gave out a small smile as she had a longing look on her face.

"Then a lot of things happened after I went into coma. It was sad to see how people treated him after that," she continued and looked down with a pout.

"And then he ditched my ass for SOLDIER," Tifa's voice was low as turned her face away to look at Yuffie.

"Can you believe it, Yuffie?" Her tone immediately changed as the young ninja took another gulp of her drink.

"No man in their right state of mind would ditch a woman looking like you for a bunch of guys pumped up with Mako!" Yuffie slammed her glass as she wiped off her mouth.

Tifa nodded in agreement.

"Heck, I would play the other team for you Tifa." Yuffie slurred as she took another gulp of her drink.

"I dunno what's going on in that spiky headed brain of his to leave you. Not back then and not after Meteorfall. I mean, hadn't he seen the way Rude look at ya? Or Johnny boy here!" Yuffie turned her attention to the red head.

"No, no please don't get me involve in this," Johnny smiled awkwardly.

Ignoring Johnny once again, Yuffie continued.

"Except if the man has some self esteem issue. Like looking way too girly or have that creepy eyes like him," Yuffie laughed out loud.

Cloud bit back a snarl.

"Hey, I've always like Cloud's eyes!" Tifa retorted with a giggle.

The constant change of the mood put the men in the room at loss.

"But I guess he is a little on the pretty side."

"I mean what kind of a boy looked good with ponytail anyway?" Tifa added as she giggled with Yuffie.

"Don't start with the wig and dress too! I mean Don Corneo picked HIM over me for God's sake!" Tifa was on her feet as she babbled animatedly.

She staggered towards him, still with the bottle in her hand.

Cloud closed his eyes trying not to give any reaction towards her words. That was one low blow, Tifa.

"Hiyaaahh!" Out of nowhere, Yuffie was suddenly up in the air aiming to crash land on Cloud but a blur of movement on his left side indicated that Vincent was already on the move.

"Why did you stop me? That spiky headed jerk is still holding my materia in hostage! I'm gonna get back at him!" Yuffie could be seen struggling mid air as Vincent's red cape enveloped her small frame.

"Awww lemme go, you big meanie!" The Ninja was already thrashing around in Vincent firm grip as they landed in front of him.

"Go back home, Yuffie. I don't have the time for this." Vincent voice was monotonous as he placed Yuffie back on her feet.

For once, Yuffie was silent as she bit her bottom lip.

"Then, go!" She countered.

Yuffie's head dropped in defeat, "No one asked you to come here." Her usual energetic voice turned cold.

"Technically, Johnny called me here because you're causing a public disruption," Vincent countered as he looked at Yuffie like he was scolding a child.

"To hell with your technicality! There's no need to for you to be here if you don't want to. Brush him off like you did to me! I can't even call your cell phone without you turning into a big mean Behemoth!" Yuffie blurted out in frustration.

For the first time, Cloud could see Vincent was taken aback by Yuffie's words.

"You already hated me that much, so why did you bother to come here anyway? Heal your own heart in that blasted cave for eternity for all I care! You don't really care about how you're hurting others anyway!" Yuffie's words sounded like a confession that had been building up for some time.

"Yuffie..." Tifa's voice was nothing but a whisper but it managed to calm Yuffie down.

"I hate it when I'm like this, Tifa but I dunno why with him..." Yuffie sobbed as she wiped her face roughly.

A few mini bloodied shurikens dropped from her hand, leaving some blood dripping along the way.

Cloud's eyes widened in surprise. 'She planned to attack me with real shuriken?'

There was only silence for a few moment.

Cloud was sure Vincent would've walk away after Yuffie's outburst but to his surprise, Vincent stepped forward and took Yuffie's bloodied hand.

Yuffie tried to pull it back but one look from Vincent, she stopped struggling.

Using a part of his cape, Vincent wrapped her bloodied palm without a word, gently.

Probably touched by his actions, Yuffie bawled, "And this is what I hate the most!"

"One minute he treated me like a pest and the next he goes all gentlemanly and I become mushy!" It was a hideous sight to see Yuffie bawling her eyes out while trying to talk.

Normally Cloud would've dissed her for it but he decided that wasn't the best time.

Vincent didn't say a word as he wrapped Yuffie's bloodied palm and once he finished, he looked at Yuffie.

He was deep in thought.

"The last woman that I learned to love destroyed herself while I just watch helplessly."

Everyone in the bar kept quite.

From the corner of his eyes, Cloud could see Tifa tilted her head and pressed her lips to a thin line as she tried her best not to interrupt Vincent.

It was in her nature to come to anyone's aide when they were feeling not good enough.

"I don't think you should pursue this any longer. I don't want you to get hurt too," Vincent's voice was quiet but Cloud understood what he was trying to say.

Men like them were like poison. They would only taint the people they love and hurt them in almost every way possible.

His eyes landed on the brunette who was still holding on to the wine bottle. He felt the same way about her.

He'd been wrapped around her fingers even back when he was still a stupid kid and fast forward years later, he was still the same.

He saw Tifa was about to explode into one of her famous pep talk lecture when Yuffie butted in.

"That's the thing about love, you don't use your head to think! If you fear about what will happen in the future so much, you'll end up being alone forever."

"Plus, I am the white rose of Wutai! I don't give up easily. No matter what challenges I may face, I won't succumb to it. You of all people should know that," Yuffie declared in her usual confident demeanour.

Yuffie took a step closer and closed the distance between them.

"What are you scared of Vinnie? I'm right here. I'm not Lucrecia."

For a woman with her small frame, Yuffie held her head high to match Vincent's height.

"No matter how hard you push me away, I'm not going anywhere."

There was something flicked in Vincent's red eyes and for a moment, he looked hopeful but he just closed his eyes in defeat.

There was no way he could win against the White Rose of Wutai.

"I really can't win over you, can I?" Vincent looked down at the woman in front of him.

The look on Yuffie's face priceless as she squealed before threw herself at the taller man in a bear hug.

"Maybe we can give it a try," he returned her gesture, a small smile broke his usual stoic feature.

Cloud looked away with a small smile on his face, giving the two some privacy.

* * *

He just looked at the retreating back of his two friends as Vincent tried to keep Yuffie from bumping her head as they entered a WRO vehicle.

His gaze returned to the other woman that just caused a havoc in this bar earlier.

As Tifa made her way towards him, she had this look like she was deep in thoughts.

Johnny finally looked like he could breathe as the distance between him and Tifa increased.

She stopped right in front of where he was sitting and held out her wine bottle.

He looked at the bottle and then at her face. He raised one eye brow in question. She motioned for him to take it.

He took it and she chose that moment to slid into his laps, arms on his shoulders while she sat straddling him.

His eyebrows disappeared into his bangs. Drunk Tifa, a miniskirt and his laps were definitely not a good combination for his sanity.

"Tifa..." When did she become this bold?

She sniffed a little but met his eyes, "We don't need to go through that to care about each other, do we?"

Cloud shook his head, finally grasping the meaning behind her words.

She was afraid that he would be distant again just like when he contracted Geostigma.

"No we don't," Cloud assured her and her tense shoulders relaxed.

She pressed herself into him in a form of a hug as she hummed in satisfaction. "You're so warm."

He could feel her breath on his neck as he read the label on the bottle he was holding. It was a strong one.

"You always smell soooo good, Cloud."

"Really? I haven't exactly got the chance to shower before coming here," he answered as he placed his hand on her hips to steady her.

She pulled back and met his eyes. Those wine coloured orbs were glimmering like the starry night sky in Nibelheim.

"And your eyes. They are always so pretty." She commented as she cupped his cheeks to study his eyes.

"I can even see myself in them," she gasped as she moved closer.

"At this distance, of course you can," he replied, trying not to groan as her movement was distracting him.

After all, he was still a man.

Johnny, who was leaning against the bar, looked at them with a teasing smile on his face.

"Uh... I need a little help here." Cloud said but Johnny remained where he was.

"I'm not coming near Tifa when she's drunk. You have no idea how close I was to losing 10 years of my life earlier."

Cloud released the bottle he was holding and firmly planted both of his hands on her hips.

"And she acts all cute like a kitty when you're around. That's really unfair, Tifa."

Tifa ignored Johnny as she pulled Cloud's face closer to her and their nose bumped.

Cloud was about to complained but was frozen in his seat as he felt her lips on his mouth.

His eyes widened in surprise as he tried to register what was happening.

"Soft, just like clouds," she murmured as she pressed her lips on him once again.

She giggled to herself as she snuggled closer to him.

At the sensation building up in him with her mouth on him as her soft curves were pressed against him, it took every ounce of strength for Cloud to gather his thoughts and stopped Tifa.

She looked hurt by his action.

"You hate it?"

Cloud blinked back a few times to clear his head before firmly holding her at a safe distance.

"No no. I like it Tifa. Hell, I've been dreaming about it since I was a brat but God, you're drunk."

Tifa pouted.

"You probably won't remember any of this tomorrow. Worse you'll even regret it. Let's not rush it."

Though the words came from him, Cloud felt bad if Tifa would really regret the kiss.

Somehow Cloud's words managed to get into her head and Tifa nodded.

"If you say so."

"We should head home," Cloud suggested and Tifa agreed.

From the area of the counter of the bar he could hear Johnny sighed in relief.

"Put it on her tab or whatever, I'll pay it tomorrow." With that Cloud lifted Tifa up and placed her on the ground.

Her knees wobbled but he caught her before she fell.

"Oppsie." She giggled again.

"Come on, let's get you on Fenrir."

Excitement lit up her face, "Yay! I can fly on Fenrir!"

Cloud suddenly realised that riding Fenrir with a drunk Tifa was a really bad idea.

Looks like they were going have to go back on feet.

"Actually, Johnny. I'll leave my bike here tonight."

"Aww why? I wanna fly!" Tifa protested as she stomped her feet.

"It's a bike Tifa. It doesn't exactly fly," Cloud explained but Tifa huffed, "I refused to walk. My feet are hurting."

It was then only he realised she had a pair of high heels on. Cloud scratched his head before he got an idea.

He bent and motioned for her to get on his back, "I'll give you a ride."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Cloud noticed how wrong it sounded but when Tifa clapped her hands in delight like a little girl, he dropped the matter.

As soon as he felt her weight on his back, Cloud supported her and began walking home.

"You're a real handful." He thought to himself with a small smile on his face.

* * *

She was humming some song to herself and randomly singing off tune about riding a chocobo as he walked back to the bar.

The sound of her voice filled up the silence of the night and as he bumped into a few familiar faces on their way back, Cloud just gave them a small nod. The looks he received from them were just like when he woke up in the church after the battle with Sephiroth. Like he was some kind of a hero.

Saving a girl who was practically drunk enough to be singing all the way back to their home while the people were watching. If Tifa was sober, she'd buried herself into the ground out of embarrassment.

"I love you~ you love me. We're a happy family," she started singing another song and Cloud felt her grip tightened around his neck.

"With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you," she continued and Cloud felt her warm lips onhis left cheek. He shook his head with a small laugh, hiding his slightly red face.

"Won't you say you love her too?" A random voice from the sidewalk finished the song for her and Tifa's arm shoot up and gave a thumb up to the person.

"Thank you!" Tifa gave out a mock salute to the small crowd on the roadside that earned her an applause.

"Honey, you're gonna get a massive hangover when you wake up," he could hear the voice of one of their neighbour whom Tifa always switched recipes with.

Tifa's head lolled to one side, indicating how close she was close to falling asleep.

"But he'll look after her right?" Her husband interrupted and Cloud just nodded his head.

The couple said good night as Cloud opened the door of 7th Heaven.

"Finally, we're home," Cloud murmured to no one. He was glad Marlene and Denzel were already asleep.

Cloud headed up to Tifa's room and once they entered it, he placed her on her bed.

In automation, she curled to a ball, hugging a pillow to her chest.

He pulled a blanket over her and was about to stood up when he felt her tugging his hand.

She had that look on her face that was borderline pouting and tempting him.

She should stopped doing that or he won't be responsible what would happened later.

"We're a happy family right?" Her voice was slightly hoarse from her little performance earlier.

He understood her worries. Whether he was truly happy being with her and the children. Or whether she was being a good mother for the Lockhart-Strife household.

Cloud scooted closer to her and pushed her hair away from her face.

"Yeah, we are." A small smiled formed on his face.

There was no denying that Tifa was the central existence and pillar of their makeshift family. An understanding companion he held close to his heart and she could be a kick ass mother if there was any danger threatened her family.

She could chase their nightmares away though she would still suffered from one of her own.

And she was the one who held them together with her small yet strong hands, even when they could be difficult at times.

Seemingly satisfied with his answer, Tifa closed her eyes and hummed a little before falling back to slumber.

He stroke her hair a few times before leaning down on her. He aimed to place a kiss on her cheek but it seemed like his lips had a mind of their own when they landed on her lips instead.

Cloud blew out his breath, annoyed with himself.

He should stop doing that to her.

After all she had done for them, he was still a coward and would only show his affection to her when she was asleep.

Cloud got up from her bed and made his way to the door.

"Thank you Cloud," he heard her voice which was so soft, with a tint of shyness.

He was glad the room was dark so she couldn't see his red face but he still managed to smile.

"See you in the morning Tifa."

* * *

P/S – I've always like Yuffie's interaction with Vincent. They're the opposite but I guess they compliment each other.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – Home**

It all came crushing back to him the moment he laid his eyes on her.

15 years had passed by since he left his hometown and never came back even once. He had never had any fond memories of Nibelheim anyway. Except for her. She was his reason he endured and survived Nibelheim and yet she was also the reason why he left.

He knew he made his resolved when he arrived at Midgar, to never look back and move forward with his new life. He made it big in Midgar as one of the high ranking officer in Shinra and he never looked back ever since then.

He had a decent life and he knew what he wanted in his life.

So when that fateful day he came across her while waiting near a diner, his resolve shook.

Seeing the same warm smile on her face as she spoke to the people around her brought back distant memories that he tried to forget.

Against his better judgement, he spent the next few days gathering information about her. He was so past stalking; he convinced himself. He was no longer the same scrawny boy from Nibelheim, who followed her around the village in adoration.

He was now a grown up man with a strong career in Shinra, a leading corporate company in Midgar.

He leaned against the railing at the opposite road of the diner as he watched her every movement while pretending to read a newspaper.

Being her, she had a flock of followers wherever she went, just like back in Nibelheim.

There was a bulky dark man he recognized from the street who was the owner of the diner she was working at. He looked intimidating and he thought that was good.

Then, there was a group of trio who made up of a plump man named Wedge. There was another man named Biggs who worked at a local electrical supply store near the area and then there was a timid girl called Jessie.

He noticed immediately after his fourth day of observation that these were the people who hung around her almost every day.

"Hey mister," a voice interrupted him. He looked down and saw a pair of big brown eyes looking up at him curiously.

One blond brow arched.

"What are you doing?" the girl asked, not taking those huge eyes off him. He shifted to stand on his feet properly.

"I'm reading the newspaper. Now move along squirt." He dismissed her and went back to read the paper.

"You're not fooling me, mister. I'm gonna ask you one more time. What are you doing here?" This time she placed both hands on her hips, obviously she was imitating someone.

"Look squirt, can't I just read a newspaper in peace?" he threw a glare that usually got things his way especially at work.

The girl didn't back down. "You're reading news from three days ago and I'm not a squirt, whatever that is."

Without any warning, the girl grabbed one of his hand and began pulling him towards the road.

He stumbled in surprise and dropped the newspaper he was holding and tried to pull the girl back to the roadside.

"What do you think you're doing?" he warned her as he looked at the opposite side of the road for incoming vehicles as the girl crossed it like she owned the road. "You should look at the traffic before crossing the road!"

The girl ignored him and they both managed to arrive at the other side of the road unscathed.

He took a deep breath and looked down on the girl.

Before he could open his mouth, another voice interrupted him.

"Marlene! I've missed you!" He stopped on his track at the familiarity of the voice.

"Johnny, you're back!" She squealed and he turned his head to look at the owner of the voice.

Both adults just looked at one and another.

"Cloud Strife? No way man!" Johnny broke the silence as he made his way towards him in huge strides.

At Johnny's enthusiastic greeting, Marlene scrunched up her nose, "You knew this mister?"

He let out a sigh, now that his little observation had been discovered. "Of course I do! We grew up in the same village!"

"Well, I saw him looking at Momma for a few days already and I don't think that's nice," Marlene said without him could… Wait. "Momma?"

Two blue eyes looked at the girl in disbelief. This little squirt couldn't be…

"I'm gonna take him up to Papa to beat some sense into him," Marlene grabbed his hand.

"Oh boy, this will be good!" Once again and this time, with Johnny's help, he was pushed into the diner and barely managed to get his footing straight, when a pair of warm ruby eyes met his.

It was as if time stood still and he was thrown back to fifteen years ago and he was nothing but a love struck fool.

He watched her every reaction the moment they made eye contact. Her eyes widened and there was a disbelief look on her face. She dropped a spoon, or a rag, he'd never register what she was holding and brought a shaky hand to her mouth as recognition dawn on her face.

She was as everything he imagined how she would be, no, even better than his expectation, as she fluidly move out from the back of the bar. Drawing in shaky breath as she bit back her lips in worry, he just waited at the entrance of the diner.

As she drew closer, he knew by then he was never over the fact that he was still in love with her.

"Cloud?" her voice called him out softly, as if she was scared he was just a dream, a fragment of her memory or a part of cruel joke. Her eyes were still studying his face.

He couldn't help but to let out a small smile as he pushed away all his doubts.

"Tifa."

Her face broke into a relief smile as she reached forward and pulled him into a hug.

His response was immediate as his hands circled around her waist and pulled her closer.

They were in silence as he turned his face to her hair and took a long and deep breath.

It took a moment before he could register she choked back a sob as she murmured just for him to hear, "You're finally here."

He tightened his hold around her and hummed in agreement.

Taking another deep breath to remember her scent, he knew by then, he was in deep trouble.

He buried down the guilt over the fact that he was engaged to another woman and yet as he held Tifa in his arms, he felt like he was finally at home.


End file.
